Abstract
BackgroundVaccines have become the best weapon for epidemic prevention and control in the absence of standard approved effective therapies. However, skepticism about the vaccine efficacy and safety is constantly reported. To our knowledge, there has been no study assessing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Lebanon. The primary objective of this survey is to assess the COVID-19 vaccines’ acceptance and its related determinants in the Lebanese population.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Lebanon from February 16 through February 25, 2021. Data was collected using an online questionnaire via social media platforms using the snowball technique. The questionnaire consisted of 47 questions related to sociodemographic and medical history, COVID-19 experience, knowledge, practice, and beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccines, including vaccines acceptance. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with vaccine acceptance.ResultsA total of 1209 questionnaires were completed; around 63.4% have reported their acceptance for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, while only 57% of participants registered themselves on the national platform. The multivariable analysis showed that a higher knowledge scale, living in an urban residential area, having hypertension, not having a food allergy, reporting a higher fear to experience COVID-19 infection, and receiving or wanting to receive influenza vaccine, were positive predictors of COVID-19 vaccines acceptance.ConclusionsOur findings support the need to improve knowledge about COVID-19 infection and vaccination through education and awareness programs. Specifically residents of rural areas should be targeted to optimize COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among the Lebanese population.
Highlights
Vaccines have become the best weapon for epidemic prevention and control in the absence of standard approved effective therapies
Since the prevalence rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in some neighboring Arab countries [12, 16,17,18] varied between 30.9% % and 60.7%, we assumed that the expected acceptance prevalence in Lebanon would be around 50%
Patients’ socio‐demographics characteristics and medical history Out of 1279 participants who responded to the survey link, 70 participants were excluded for the following reasons: Did not wish to participate (7), younger than 18 years (15), and living outside Lebanon (48)
Summary
Vaccines have become the best weapon for epidemic prevention and control in the absence of standard approved effective therapies. There has been no study assessing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Lebanon. The primary objective of this survey is to assess the COVID-19 vaccines’ acceptance and its related determinants in the Lebanese population. The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, known as COVID-19 has prompted the World Health. Organization (WHO) to declare this disease as a public health emergency in late January 2020 [1] and characterized the novel virus as a pandemic in March 2020 [2]. Patients can experience a range of clinical manifestations, from no symptoms to critical illness [3]. Around 597,000 new cases are being reported daily, and the total active hospitalized cases worldwide reported as serious and critical accounts for
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